2019-01-17

Ramallah

West Bank

His Excellency Attorney General, Dr. Ahmad Barak,

Subject: The Public Prosecution's Response to Our Memo on Violating the Lawyer's Right to Communicate With his Client Privately

MUSAWA- the Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession extend their warmest greetings to your Excellency.

Thank you for responding to our memo on violating the lawyer’s right to communicate with his client privately, which was sent to you on 17/12/2018, noting that your mentioned reply was sent to the complainant lawyer. MUSAWA received a written response from the lawyer, in which he pointed out that your response lacks precision, and assured that the Preventive Security Service prevented him from communicating with his client duly, despite the intervention of the Bar Association and despite the fact that he visited his client more than once before this incident.

MUSAWA reiterated its request for addressing the lawyer’s complaint and the contents of his reply to your response, taking the necessary legal action regarding any violation of law committed by the Preventive Security Service’s employees, as this body represents a law enforcement  department, which denied the lawyer’s right to communicate with his client and thus violated the detainee’s constitutional rights without any legal justification, and ordering the Preventive Security Service to enable the lawyer from communicating with his client privately, as one of the Fair Trial Guarantees’ requirements and a constitutional right of both the detainees and the lawyers under the Basic Law.

Looking forward to your updates on the procedures taken in this regard duly.

With All Due Respect

Issued on 10/1/2018

Legal Monitoring Officer

Angham Mansour

Attachments

-The lawyer’s response.

- The Public Prosecution's response to our memo